Structures for the support of food crops and decorative plants have been known since antiquity. Various combinations of poles, slats, cords and wires, as well as metal, concrete and wood structures are in use today. Some are heavy, cumbersome and expensive to produce. Others are temporary assemblages intended only to last for a season.
Several forms of "sprinkling fences" have been suggested that incorporate some desirable functions for a modular structure. All are modular in that they are assembled from repetitive elements connected horizontally. The patents to Lemelson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,311, and Greenhalgh, U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,309, incorporate perforated horizontal tubing as a structural element to provide irrigation. These designs, however, are limited to fencing applications and their primary object is irrigation rather than plant support. They have no vertical modularity and cannot, for example, be combined to form A-frames or arbors. They also require separate couplings or connectors for the fluid conduit members.
Those prior art structures that do present an attractive appearance, e.g., for the home gardener, are costly to manufacture and lack versatility. In a lifetime of gardening, the inventor has not found a commercially available system that combines ease of assembly, durability, versatility of configuration and function, light weight, strength, irrigation capability, attractive design and economy.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a modular plant support and irrigation structure that is aesthetically pleasing, that can be assembled easily and without tools and that is economical to manufacture.
It is another principal object of the invention to provide a modular plant supporting system that can be assembled and extended vertically as well as horizontally and reinforced, if necessary, to create A-frame structures, trellises, and a variety of rectilinear and curvilinear constructions in two or more planes, all of which can also serve to provide irrigation to plants in the proximity of the structure.
It is yet another important object of the invention to provide a modular plant support and low-pressure irrigation system that is assembled from elements that are durable, i.e., can be used year after year, and that is fabricated from materials that are strong but light in weight.
Another object of the invention is to provide a central supporting element, or hub, for a modular plant support system that can be produced to incorporate any of a variety of styles or designs that will be compatible with the particular architectural style of the residential or commercial setting in which the support is placed.
Other objects of the invention are to provide a new and improved plant support system that can be economically fabricated from recycled or other low-cost materials, and that is durable so that it can be disassembled and reassembled to form different structures as the need may arise and that can be easily moved from one location to another.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a simplified coupling system by which the horizontal and vertical members are joined in a secure frictional fit making separate connectors necessary only when angled joints are to be formed.
Additional objects of the invention are to provide a system that can be manufactured in colors that will enhance or minimize the visibility of the structure as desired, and one that can be embellished with decorative, non-functional elements, if desired.
The above and such other objects and advantages that will hereafter more fully appear, are achieved by the invention comprising the novel constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts as are more fully described and illustrated below and in the accompanying drawings.